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A Vote for Peters is a Vote for Women! 10.16.14

A lot of people mistakenly believe that the midterm elections don’t matter very much, but nothing could be further from the truth. All over the country, anti-women politicians are running for office, and in some cases gaining significant ground. If women come out and vote in their best interests, we can halt the War on Women in its tracks. It has never been more critical for women to vote. There are two especially important races in Michigan to be educated on—the race for governor and the race for the U.S. Senate seat. We’ll focus today on the race between Gary Peters (D) and Terri Lynn Land (R) for U.S. Senate. If you’re not educated on the differences between candidates, it can be confusing when a woman is running from the Republican Party. “Don’t we want more women represented in the U.S. government, at all levels? So if I care about women, shouldn’t I vote for her, even though she is a republican?” Let me stop you right there—NO. This is why understanding the difference between candidates is so important. Briefly, here is information on Land’s position on legal abortion: she vehemently opposes access to safe, legal abortion. She has said that the only exception she supports is one to save the life of the woman. To confuse matters, though, she also supports the Republican National Platform, which calls for a ban on abortion without exception. The platform calls for a “Human Life Amendment To The Constitution,” a measure that could possibly interfere with medical access to birth control, among other personal decisions (source). Land has been cagey when asked to commit to what, exactly, she would do if she were voted in, when it comes to women’s health. She still has not made comment on the controversial Abortion Insurance Opt-Out Act, which forces women and employers to buy an additional “insurance rider” to cover an abortion in ALL cases (source). If you are a woman with health insurance, this affects YOU. Gary Peters, however, supports legal abortion unequivocally. Not only does he support women’s health and their right to making decisions privately and without the interference of government, he also supports the ACA and its birth control benefit, which has already provided 983,000 Michigan women with access to no-copay birth control. Are you one of those women? Maybe your daughter is, or your niece. In a debate about the ACA’s preventive health benefit, he said that it is “un-American to treat women, by virtue of their gender, as second-class citizens by denying their ability to control their own destinies” (source). On the Michigan Abortion Insurance Opt-Out Act, Peters has stated, "This law does not represent Michigan. It is not right. It is not just. And I promise to my daughters and to families across Michigan, your voice will be heard. We will fight back” (source). On all fronts, from abortion to birth control, and women in the military to equal pay measures, Gary Peters is the Pro-Woman, Pro-Family candidate. Families cannot be strong if the women in them are discriminated against and treated as second-class citizens at every turn. A vote for Gary Peters is a vote for women and families. For more information, please see Women Are Watching and Gary Peters for U.S. Senate. And check out this great infographic from UniteWomen.org from their Know Your Candidate Campaign: